A Shangrila St. Patrick's Day, Part 1 - The Boondock Saints

St. Patrick's Day is both a religious holiday and a celebration of all things Irish. This year, I'd like to do a three-part post (yes, like a shamrock) about a haunting song I heard on the radio one day...

"The Boondock Saints" is a hard film to categorize. For the most part, it's marketed as an action movie - the movie poster and trailer definitely play up the violence. Between (and sometimes during) the gunfights, however, there is plenty of offbeat humor - from watching someone get hit by a toilet to seeing Willem Dafoe in drag. Many of the big setpiece fights are filmed in slow motion, giving everything a surreal touch:



The movie follows two ordinary brothers, played by Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus. The brothers survive a barfight with Russian gangsters, and make a vow to hunt down evil wherever they find it, starting with the mob. From there, things get even more zany, thanks to the supporting actors; Billy Connolly plays a heavily armed hitman named "Il Duce," David Della Rocco plays a skittish low-level mobster, and Willem Dafoe plays the same wild-eyed character he always plays.

Written and directed by Troy Duffy, "The Boondock Saints" was a disappointment at theatres but became a huge hit in the home video rental market. It's the only action movie I know of that has St. Patty's Day as a plot element; as such, if you feel like seeing an action-crime-comedy with sprinklings of Irish Catholicism and family drama, it's time to let the Saints come marching in.

Rating: 6/10